Of Bodies and Soul:Interplay Between Power and Desire in Parijat’s Blue Mimosa

Abstract

This paper explores the interplay between power and desire in bodies in love in Parijat’s Blue Mimosa from a psychoanalytical perspective. Since the novel underscores sexuality as a primary concern among the characters, especially between Suyog Bir and Sakambari, Suyog Bir’s interchangeable dominance with Sakambari concerning his historical brutality against the Burmese native girls, namely Chhin girl, Kachin girl, and Matinchi whom he raped or compel them to commit suicide during his military days in the second world war, highlights the power of sexuality that changes the location of dominance. Against these backdrops, this research investigates the novel with three specific questions. Firstly, why do the characters in the novel focus on sexuality? Secondly, what is the significance of power for Suyog Bir and Sakambari? Thirdly, how does the novel reveal the interplay between sex and power? To answer this question, this research embodies the psychoanalytical perspective primarily especially dealing with Sigmund Freud’s notion of ‘the psychology of love.’Besides, it incorporates Michel Foucault’s notion of the docile body to excavate the vulnerability of sexual bodies and the role of power in sexual relationships among the characters, primarily the native girls, Suyog Bir and Sakambari. The study argues that sexuality is a driving mechanism that determines, changes, and relocates the body of power. Since power retains the ability to switch according to the circumstances, sex plays a crucial role in the transmogrification of the channelized body. Moreover, Blue Mimosa portrays characters like Suyog Bir and Sakambari, in particular, to expose the location of power in the social sphere in which sex plays a stirring role in modulating it. Keywords: Libido, repressed desire, domination, psyche and sexuality